For the White Chocolate–Oak Cream

• 1⅔ cups (400 ml) heavy cream
• ¼ cup (25 g) oak chips or chunks (don’t use fine wood shavings!)
• 8¾ ounces (250 g) white chocolate, in small chunks

For the Smoky Tea Shortbread

• 1½ cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
• 7½ tablespoons (60 g) cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup (225 g) butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup (50 g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
• Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 1 generous tablespoon lapsang souchong (smoked) tea leaves, very finely ground in a mortar or a food processor

Prepare

Make the white chocolate–oak cream: Put half of the cream and the wood chips in a saucepan over low heat and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat. Strain the cream through a sieve and pour it back into the pan. Add the white chocolate chunks and let them slowly melt in the hot cream.

Allow the white chocolate–oak cream to cool to lukewarm. Stir occasionally.

Whip the remaining cream until stiff. Carefully fold in the white chocolate–oak cream and pour the mixture into pretty (mason) jars or small teacups.

Allow to firm up in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Remove them only when you’re about to serve dessert.

Make the smoky tea shortbread: Sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside.

Using a hand mixer, beat the butter together with the confectioners’ sugar until fluffy. It will take a good minute or three. Add the vanilla seeds and ground tea. Spoon in the flour mixture and stir until the dough just starts to come together, but no further. Kneading or stirring just briefly is the secret here; you want the cookies to remain crumbly after they’ve been baked. Roll the dough into a thick sausage and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut the dough sausage into thin slices (say, ⅛ inch/3 mm) and use a metal spatula to place them, evenly spaced, on the lined baking sheet. Bake in the middle of the oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for a bit, then transfer them to a rack to cool down further. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.

You can keep these cookies for a couple of weeks in an airtight container or jar. Of course you will serve them with your jars of mousse, and I can assure you there won’t be any left to store afterward.